


Five Times Lex Fell In Love with Kal-El and One Time He Told Him

by meyari



Category: Smallville
Genre: Alternate Reality, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-02
Updated: 2009-12-02
Packaged: 2017-10-04 02:37:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meyari/pseuds/meyari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lex found it odd how such little things had grabbed his heart so powerfully.  It only took five little things for him to fall head over heels in love, though it took one more event for him to say it out loud.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times Lex Fell In Love with Kal-El and One Time He Told Him

_First Meeting:_

El Industries was perhaps the most disorganized, illogical and insanely productive company Lex had ever had the misfortune to try to work with. He couldn't help but wonder as he strode into their Metropolis offices if their president's obvious instability automatically infected everyone who worked there. He had an appointment with Zor El (which had taken almost three and a half months to arrange) so the front desk secretary waved him through to the executive elevator, mouthing something incoherent about 'Kal' and 'vacation' and 'not feeling well, but go ahead'. Lex paid no attention to her. He paid no attention to the nervous jitters of the security guard assigned to escort him to the top floor where Mr. El waited. They were always strange at El Industries, but at least none of them had any issues with his baldness. It was nice not to get the cancer victim quips.

Mr. El's private secretary looked like she was about to cry when Lex strode up to her desk, but every time he'd managed to get this far she'd either been terrified or she'd had bruises that made him wonder darkly about Mr. El's sexual perversions and whether she was paid for more than her work on the phones. Today she just swallowed hard and nodded at Lex, standing up to walk shakily to the double mahogany doors that led to Zor El's office.

"Mr. El," she breathed as she opened the doors cautiously, "your uncle's 9:00 am appointment is here. A Mr. Lex Luthor of LuthorCorp."

"Send him in," a surprisingly young man's voice called, clear and relatively cheerful.

"Mr. Kal El will see you, sir," the secretary said and scurried back to her desk, leaving Lex to make his own way into the impressive office.

The office suited Zor El to a 'T', full of expensive sculpture made of crystal, leather bound books on heavy mahogany shelves and a desk that filled nearly an acre of space all by itself. Instead of the severe, square-jawed, balding older man that Lex had expected, an incredibly gorgeous young man with wavy black hair, striking green eyes and a cordially friendly smile greeted him. He looked no more than eighteen or nineteen to Lex. His impression was that Kal El would far rather be outside somewhere than sorting through his uncle's paperwork. The office looked like the exact opposite of what Kal El would be comfortable with, despite his impeccably tailored suit and expensive Italian tie.

"I'm sorry that my uncle couldn't be here to meet you," Kal said, coming around the enormous desk to shake Lex's hand firmly. "I'm afraid he's…indisposed at the moment."

"Indisposed?" Lex asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking despite himself. "Does that mean he's battling a stomach ailment or he's mildly inconvenience by an overly restrictive coat at the moment?"

"More the latter," Kal said, his handsome young face going grim and nearly a decade older in less than a second. "Not that we're admitting it publicly yet. Bad for the company, you see. Uncle Zor has had issues with his mental health for decades, I'm afraid. My father greatly regrets allowing him to travel so far from home where he couldn't be properly monitored, but what's done is done."

Lex nodded, a little surprised that Kal would admit that openly, but then he supposed that the whole company knew. It certainly explained the front desk secretary's babbling and the guard's jitters. Lex rather wondered how long it would take before the news media picked up on the story and questioned the change in command. Might be very bad for their stock and that might make Lex's little project more possible.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Lex said relatively sincerely. "I interacted with your uncle on several occasions. He was…interesting."

"Which I would read as demented, occasionally violent and downright peculiar," Kal said with a wicked little grin that transformed him into fifteen or sixteen, thus destroying Lex's attempts to determine how old he was. "Trust me, you only saw the public side of my uncle. He was much worse in private."

"Ah. I take it that you've been called in to cover for him until he feels better?" Lex asked, pointing to the stacks of paper on the desk. Even though it was quite literally the biggest desk he'd ever seen (larger than his father's—he'd have to mention that just to watch Lionel go off in a fit of ego and commission one marginally larger), it was almost entirely covered with stacks of papers and project files.

Kal sighed, nodding. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the desk with a strange mixture of resignation and resentment. When he turned back to meet Lex's eyes the expression in his eyes made something in Lex's heart go ping. He'd seen that look so many times before, but only in the mirror after especially bad days dealing with his father's demands. Hatred for his life, resentment at what he had to do, but complete conviction that there was no escape—he'd never have expected to see it in someone else's eyes.

"I'm the family fix-it boy," Kal said, mouth twisting into a wry expression that might have been qualified as a smile if you were charitable. "When something goes wrong in one of the company's branches, I'm sent in to fix it. I take six months to a year or so, find out what was wrong, create plans, and then implement them once my father's given approval. Once things have stabilized, my cousin Kara usually comes in to see them through and I'm assigned somewhere else."

"You never get to see the fruition of your plans," Lex said, stomach hurting at that thought. His jaw muscles jumped, making him consciously attempt to relax.

"Well, they're not really my plans or my projects," Kal said with a shrug that obviously tried to push the sympathy and pain away. "I hardly have any connection to them. I just do the first draft of the plans. It's my father Jor El that determines what's done. He's the head of the family and has the final say in everything. That's probably part of why my uncle wanted to be stationed so far away—to escape my father's influence. Worked for a while, I suppose, but you can't escape Jor El. I know."

How many times have I thought that, Lex wondered as his heart went out to Kal. How many times have I explained away the stupid things I have to do as just what needs to be done? He sighed, looking away from Kal as he tried to school his expression back to something more appropriate to a first meeting with a business rival. He didn't think he succeeded, if he was to judge by the expression on Kal's face and the blush staining his cheeks.

"I was here to discuss buying the Smallville plant with your uncle," Lex said, pulling the conversation off of personal matters and onto something more business related. "LuthorCorp is very interested in acquiring the property and it might give your company some needed cash once your investors hear about your uncle's departure."

"I am sorry," Kal said with apparently complete sincerity, "but I couldn't think of selling anything right now. My uncle left things in such a mess that I truly have no idea what we have or what the company is doing. I have to establish a baseline before I can consider selling anything."

"Of course," Lex said, sighing and grimacing. His father wasn't going to like that, but what else could Lex do. "Do please keep it in mind for the future. LuthorCorp is very interested in acquiring that particular branch of your company."

Kal nodded, smiling in a way that was friendly but noncommittal. He might be younger than Lex (though Lex wasn't 100% certain of that given how much his face shifted as his expressions changed), but Kal was obviously a born and bred businessman. He was the leader that Lex had always been forced to be. It showed especially clearly as the executive secretary tapped on the door and stuck her head in.

"S-sir? The department heads are here," she said, sniffling and wiping away the tears that were creeping down her cheeks.

"Please excuse me," Kal said to Lex.

Before Lex could nod, Kal was walking over to murmur something so obviously kind and reassuring that the secretary burst into tears. Kal comforted her without any shyness or discomfort at all, and then headed into the outer office to calm the terrified and irate department heads. Lex followed, watching quietly from the background. Kal was a natural leader. He seemed to know just the words to use and who to pat, and who to give a stern look to. Inside of three minutes he had them calmed down and into his uncle's office. The executive secretary was getting coffee and tea, so Lex thought that he was the only one who saw the tired, lost look on Kal's face before he straightened his shoulders and headed back into the office. He paused before closing the doors and smiled at Lex.

"Have a good day," Kal said and nodded.

"You too," Lex replied as he realized that his heart was well and truly lost. "Good luck, Kal El."

_Charity Ball:_

The news had indeed made much of Zor El's sudden replacement by his much younger nephew. Lex had managed to give his father a head's up on the issue before the story broke, so LuthorCorp had come out of the firestorm quite well, gaining ground against El Industries in several areas. Kal handled the media mess with so much skill and aplomb that Lex had to believe he'd been in the public eye since he was born. He didn't react with anger or disdain, no matter how insulting the questions were. He was straightforward in his replies to questions about his uncle's sanity, explaining that Zor El had been on medication since he was a young man and had apparently gone off of it a couple of years ago. The effects had not been pretty but had taken time to develop, so no one back home had realized until much too late. All that Kal would say about his uncle's current condition was that he was being treated and that they hoped he would be restored to his old self soon. There was no comment on whether or not Zor would return to head the American branch of El Industries.

Lex thought it was Kal's open nature and kindness that brought the media firestorm to an end. He clearly cared about the people around him. He cared about the reporters and learned their names. He cared about his staff, about the security guards, about the people on the street that he chanced to meet. He was an honestly nice person that everyone seemed to like. After a couple of weeks of no change other than slow improvements at El Industries, the story died and other news took its place.

Lex continued to see Kal around town, encountering him at various charity functions and spotting him at several restaurants in Metropolis. They nodded at each other but never exchanged words. There never seemed to be a good opportunity and Lex was trying to rein in his entirely too childish crush on the younger man. He had managed to confirm that he was older than Kal, by several years. Lex was twenty-five. Kal was nineteen, a far too mature nineteen in Lex's opinion.

"Ah," Lionel breathed in Lex's ear as they arrived at the Metropolis Opera Charity Ball together, "I see that the new Prince of Metropolis is here, Lex. See if you can arrange to talk to him. I still want to get that Smallville plant from them."

"Of course," Lex said, acquiescing rather than fighting his father. It wouldn't do any good and besides, he did want to talk to Kal. "Might take a while to work through his hordes of admirers, but I'll do my best to get there."

Lionel chuckled at that and set off in pursuit of his latest mistress. Lex spent half the evening working his way towards Kal El while making contacts of his own in the crowd of wealthy businessmen and women, opera lovers and society folk. It was nearly two hours later when he managed to catch Kal in a quiet moment on the balcony off of the ballroom. Kal looked tired as Lex approached but his face lit up like the sun had come out when he saw that it was Lex.

"Haven't seen much of you," Lex said with a far more open than normal smile. "How are things going? You manage to get them to calm down yet?"

"Somewhat," Kal laughed, looking amused. "Mary still flinches and gets the sniffles whenever I'm nice to her but given what my uncle put her though that's not too surprising. I really do wonder why she didn't press charges against him."

"Probably thought it wouldn't do any good," Lex said with a sigh. He turned and leaned against the balcony railing to look out over the city. "One secretary's word against a rich and powerful company president? Not much question how that one would go."

Lex was quite aware that there was far too much anger and sympathy in his voice for someone he'd only met a half dozen times. Of course it wasn't Mary Whatshername, Kal's secretary that he was thinking of. It was a dozen or so women that his father had abused in much the same way that Kal's uncle had.

"Your father?" Kal asked, joining Lex in leaning on the railing and looking out into the night.

"Yeah," Lex said with a shrug. "My mom and a dozen or so other women that I'm aware of. I try and ignore it until it's time to clean up the mess. There's not much that I could do to stop it and I don't want to be on the receiving end of my father's somewhat legendary temper."

"You're about as free as I am," Kal commented, making Lex start and straighten up. "No offense, but I see a lot of parallels between our lives. Do you dream of the day your elders die too?"

Lex looked at Kal, who met his eyes with perfect calm and total understanding. There was no judgment in Kal's eyes. He didn't appear to think better or worse of Lex for what he'd been told, what he might have discovered. He didn't have pity in his eyes either, which was a complete astonishment to Lex. Kal was made of sterner things—or perhaps more honest and true things—than Lex was to be able to see that sort of past and not feel pity. Lex looked away, knowing that the refusal to answer was answer enough for Kal. Kal nodded, visible from the corner of Lex's eye.

"At least its only one," Kal said softly, almost too softly to be audible over the street noise and party noise.

"What do you mean?" Lex asked, studying Kal as he stood up again and casually brushed his suit off.

"You only have one person blocking you from freedom," Kal said far too calmly for the desperation that shown in his eyes. "I have my father and mother, my uncle, my cousin and all of our family servants, our cousins who are…well almost rulers back home. And the company that expects me to be nothing more than a clone of my father. The only way I would ever be free to follow my own path would be if they all died. That's hundreds of people, Lex. At least you have hope of freedom. I don't."

Lex's heart went out to him but he gave Kal the same respect that he'd just received and didn't look at him with pity. Instead he looked into the party and saw his father watching the two of them with an expression of mingled approval and warning. His father was more than aware of Lex's bisexuality and he knew perfectly well that Kal was exactly what Lex liked in a man. It wasn't something his father approved of. But of course, it was another occasion for Lex to pitch for the purchase of the Smallville plant.

"I suppose I should make the obligatory noises about the Smallville plant," Lex said, completely changing the subject so that they could get out of more dangerous territory.

"I suppose you should," Kal said, chuckling. "And I suppose I should make the normal excuses about not wanting to sell a portion of the company at this time."

"Then I suppose those noises won't make any difference?" Lex said, smirking at Kal.

"No, not much difference at all," Kal replied with a wry shrug. "Of course, I really shouldn't make any noises at all about the unethical and illegal experiments my uncle was performing there. We're trying rather hard to keep those under wraps."

"I agree, you really shouldn't say anything about that," Lex said with a worried frown. "I wouldn't want to hear anything like that anyway."

Kal sighed and leaned back against the railing, crossing his arms over his chest as he studied the crowds partying inside. Lex watched Kal, feeling his crush deepening into something closer to fascination and maybe even love. He was warning Lex off from a property that could get LuthorCorp burned, even though it exposed Kal and El Industries to all sorts of trouble. Kal turned and looked at Lex's bald head, his eyes troubled and sad.

"It occurs to me that I've never asked how you lost your hair at such a young age," Kal said, the way he said it making it quite clear that he knew all about the accident in Smallville when Lex was nine. "Is it something that you talk about?"

"No," Lex said, his heart beating faster, "it isn't. It was a mystery to my doctors and family but I've come to consider it a blessing in disguise. I had life-threatening asthma before I lost my hair and I've never had another attack after that. I don't get sick. I heal quite rapidly."

"Indeed," Kal said, looking like he'd just had something confirmed that he really didn't want to have confirmed.

They stood in silence for a long while, Kal studying the party and Lex looking out at the night. Eventually, they both stepped away from the railing, each feeling the internal pressure that would either require deeper confidences than were totally inappropriate for second meetings or immediate departure. Lex chose departure, offering a hand to Kal.

"Good luck with the rest of your clean up work," Lex said, smiling as Kal took his hand and shook it firmly.

"Thank you," Kal said, smiling a very uncomfortable smile. "A word to the wise: When my cousin Kara arrives in a couple of months, tell her that you had cancer and that's how you lost your hair. Don't tell her that you have any connection to Smallville."

"Why?" Lex asked, releasing Kal's hand reluctantly.

"I don't want you to be one of the things that I have to 'clean up'," Kal breathed, his heart in his eyes. "Have a good evening."

He disappeared back into the party as if he had super speed, leaving Lex alone on the balcony. Lex stood there for a long while, pondering what Kal had just implied about what he was doing and what had happened to Lex. Lex wasn't sure why Kal was protecting him, but after that little exchange he was certain that he was. Lex regained his composure before going back into the party. He needed to have a word with his father and he needed to be very careful about how he explained what he'd just learned. Kal was protecting Lex. Lex would do his damnedest to return the favor.

_Kara's Arrival:_

Lex managed to convince his father that the refusal to sell the Smallville plant had more to do with trust than it did with potentially illegal activities. He carefully avoided all mention of Kal's warning about the experiments, not wanting to give Lionel any weapons to use against Kal. Having convinced his father that it was a trust issue, Lex was able to push through a minor partnership between LuthorCorp and El Industries that would allow them to 'build trust between the companies' as a wedge to eventually get the Smallville branch of the company away from El Industries.

It was complete and total hogwash of course, but Lionel bought it and even praised Lex for strategic thinking. The only strategic thinking that went with the venture was that it allowed Lex frequent access to Kal El in a more casual setting than the office or parties. Within a week of the new venture's beginning he and Kal were meeting for dinner and drinks (Kal never drank alcohol but he wasn't adverse to really expensive coffee). Within a month, Lex was as welcome at the El mansion on the outskirts of Metropolis as he was in his own penthouse.

They never did anything even remotely flirtatious, to Lex's private dismay, but he still got to spend time to Kal and learn more about him. The things he learned continually surprised Lex. He'd assumed that Kal was a businessman first and foremost, so arriving at the mansion on sunny Friday afternoon to find Kal on a ladder painting the ceiling was a bit of a shock. Rather than comment on it, Lex pulled off his jacket and pitched in. During the looping conversation that followed Lex discovered that Kal meant it quite literally when he called himself the family fix-it boy. He was renovating the mansion by hand and had done that sort of work before as an assignment for his father. He almost accidentally displayed more than human strength and speed when he caught Lex during an unfortunate ladder accident. No one was hurt, the paint didn't spill and neither of them mentioned it afterwards.

A weekend visit revealed that Kal knew more about guns and weaponry than most twenty-year veterans of the Marines. Lex had caught Kal cleaning several guns and the conversation revealed that he'd been assigned to the weapons research program back home (where 'home' was Lex still hadn't discovered) for nearly a year and a half, though he'd been in the scientific research branch, not a combat branch. Despite that, he mentioned casually having killed several people during a raid on his laboratories during an earthquake.

"Really?" Lex asked, watching Kal's highly capable fingers as they reassembled the gun with a level of dexterity that was literally entrancing. He banished the idle fantasy of what those fingers could do on Lex's body.

"Mmm-hmm," Kal murmured, shrugging casually. "It happened fairly frequently, which was why I was there. They weren't making the progress my father wanted so I got sent in to supervise until they did. It was…educational. Never did get to see true combat of course. They wouldn't allow an El to be on the front lines though we did have a few raids on the facility. Exciting but over quite quickly. I was never in any great danger."

That led to the revelation that Kal's homeland was embroiled in a generations-long guerilla war, with the El family on the winning side (so far). It sounded nasty and highly political, which explained a lot of Kal's excellent people skills. Of course he would have learned how to deal with people under those circumstances. Of course he'd be a great leader when he'd been in a war. It made Lex wonder why Zor El hadn't learned the same skills.

By the three-month mark on the partnership, Kal had completely renovated the portions of the mansion that he wanted to repair. There was new plumbing in the master bathroom and new marble on the walls in the entry hallway. He'd shown a surprising skill for painting by doing a simple mural of clouds on the ceiling of the entryway. The house was almost exactly the way Kal had intended from the satisfaction on his face as he swept up the dust and debris from his last project. Lex chuckled, shaking his head at Kal's smile.

"You have the soul of a craftsman, my friend," Lex said, leaning against the wall.

"I suppose I do," Kal said, nodding towards the dustpan. "Give me a hand?"

Lex picked it up and was just kneeling down to set it in front of Kal's little pile of debris when the front door banged open and a beautiful blonde woman swept in. Kal went white, staring at her. Lex stood, abandoning the dustpan. He'd never seen Kal respond like this before and instantly wanted to defend him against this interloper, not that he had any idea who she was. She looked to be in her early thirties though she dressed more like she was in her early twenties, all flirty skirts that showed too much leg and tops that showed too much breast.

"There you are, little cousin!" the blonde exclaimed, sweeping over to hug him and kiss his cheek.

"Kara," Kal said, his voice sounding as faint as he looked. "I didn't expect you so soon."

"Silly, you need to check your messages more often," Kara said, patting his shoulder like he was a child. "I've got the driver bringing my things in. You're supposed to go out to Smallville to deal with the mess there. I'll take over here after a week's overlap. I'm sure you've done your normal excellent job getting things whipped into shape."

The driver appeared at the door, staggering under the weight of far too many suitcases. Kal automatically went to help while Kara swept off into the mansion as if she owned it. Given that she was senior to Kal, Lex supposed that she did. He hated her for it. By the time Lex left several hours later, he thoroughly despised Kara. Everything that Kal had built and so carefully created was no longer his. Kara took it all away, from the teams he'd built at El Industries, to the master suite with its whirlpool bath that Lex had helped install, to the special parquet floor that Kal had helped install in the main dining room.

"How do you stand this?" Lex asked Kal in the lowest voice that he could just before he left for the evening. "They're taking everything away from you!"

"I'm used to it," Kal said, shrugging philosophically. "I knew going into this that the job would be Kara's within about six months. I knew that this would be her house, too."

The way he said the last sentence, the twinkle in his eyes as he said it, rocked Lex back on his heels. He looked around the mansion and watched Kara's delight in its ornate decorations for a second. Lex thought about the places they'd gone together. Kal was just as happy eating dollar hotdogs from a cart in the park as he was at the fine restaurants that Lex favored. He was happier renovating the rooms of the mansion than he was living in them.

"You made it this way for her," Lex breathed, explosions of delight at Kal's sneakiness going off in his heart. "This wasn't for you. It was never for you. It was all for her!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kal said solemnly.

A wicked grin escaped for just a second and then Kal had his 'I'm so abused and put upon' expression back on. Lex swallowed a belly laugh and watched Kal complain—with fairly convincing sincerity—about Kara's appropriation of his newly renovated home. Kara breezed right over Kal's objections, praising his work on choosing contractors and then disappeared upstairs to try out her new whirlpool tub. Kal watched her go and sighed, stretching his arms over his head for a second. He seemed almost relieved, like the other shoe had finally dropped. The look he gave Lex afterwards was one of complete fellowship and understanding, with just a hint of more to it.

"I ought to be going," Lex said, once again fleeing the emotions that he didn't feel ready to accept.

"Sure," Kal said, smiling a strangely sad smile. "Good luck working with Kara on the partnership. She's a bit touchy on some issues but if you give her coffee she tends to react better."

Lex froze halfway through the doorway, turning to look back at Kal. He could see regret and something that might be real affection in Kal's eyes but it was clear that Kal expected to be dropped like a hot potato. Lex's heart burned a bit with anger that Kal had been hurt this way so many times that he'd just accept it.

"You're not…" Lex said, waving his hand as if to complete the thought that way.

"Kara's taking over everything here," Kal said quietly. "I'm going to be in Smallville inside of a week. Thanks for everything Lex. I really appreciated working with you."

"You're welcome," Lex said, trying to convey more than just thanks.

Kal was welcome in Lex's home any time he chose to visit. Kal nodded and that was that. Lex left, hoping that this wasn't the end to the best friendship Lex had ever had. As he drove back to the penthouse he realized that it was the only real friendship he'd ever had. He decided that he'd make sure that this wasn't the end. He wanted Kal in his life, as a friend and hopefully someday as more than a friend. He'd never said it to Kal but Lex wanted that something more.

_The Farmhouse:_

Lex had never believed the old saying that absence makes the heart grow fonder. It was nonsense. He'd had so many friends and lovers that he forgot the instant they were out of sight. For him the appropriate saying had always been out of sight, out of mind. He was comfortable in his life, comfortable in his lack of emotional attachments, and more or less comfortable with his future. His father wasn't going to live forever and eventually he'd be able to live his life as he wished.

Lex found that absence only made him grow ever fonder of Kal in the weeks after Kara took over El Industries. It had taken Kara all of about a day and half to get up to speed on everything that Kal had done. Before Lex found an excuse to go over to El Industries Kal was already gone. Lex did his best to work with Kara but he found her enormously annoying. His father on the other hand seemed to find her fascinating, which Lex found a bit nerve-wracking. Kara was far less careful about hiding her powers than Kal had been and she didn't respond well at all to Lex's quite word of advice to tone it down. A week after Kal's departure from Metropolis, Lionel took over the partnership, much to Lex's relief. He truly didn't like dealing with Kara.

It took Lex another two months to arrange a week off of work. Normally Lex would have flown off to Paris or the Caribbean but this time he got in his Porsche and drove to Smallville. The old Luthor mansion in Smallville was rarely visited but Lex had called ahead and had the caretakers get the place ready for him. When he arrived there was a fire in the study fireplace and his bedroom was ready and waiting for him. It only took about three minutes of calling around to find out where Kal El had settled down. Lex had expected that it would one of the big old houses in town or maybe one of the new apartments built on the edge of town. Instead, Kal had bought an old family farm outside of town and restored it.

Driving down the Kent farm's lane was another of those moments when Lex thought that his heart couldn't swell any further and he was immediately proven wrong. The farm wasn't a rich man's playground with a few token cows. It was a real working farm and Kal was dressed in jeans and a plaid flannel, carrying a huge bag of grain over his shoulder. He looked surprised as Lex parked his Porsche and got out, but he also looked pleased. They looked at each other for a long moment and then Kal grinned, nodded to Lex and headed into the barn with his bag of grain. Lex followed and leaned against one of the rough timber posts as Kal talked to the hands he'd hired to work the farm. They seemed to love him nearly as much as Lex did and nodded respectfully to Lex when he was introduced as 'my friend Lex from Metropolis'.

"I didn't expect you to visit me out in the boonies," Kal said as he led Lex into the farmhouse. "What brings you to Smallville?"

"Vacation," Lex said, laughing as he saw that the farmhouse was in the final stages of being renovated. "You just can't keep your hands off of those tools, can you Kal?"

"Nope," Kal said, completely unrepentant. "It's such a great old house but it needed new wiring and the plumbing was starting to spring leaks, so I had to tear out the walls and install all new. And there were some beams that were getting a bit of dry rot. Replaced the floors, too. You wouldn't believe how the upstairs floor used to creak! I'm actually almost done. Give me a day or two more and I'll be painting."

"Need some help?" Lex offered, grinning. "I have a little experience helping with renovations."

"I don't know," Kal said dubiously while grinning so widely that he looked twelve. "I might need to have references."

They looked at each other for a long moment and then burst out laughing. Lex wasn't sure which of them made the first move for the hug, but somehow they ended up hugging and Lex let himself cling to Kal. Kal made a needy little noise and buried his face in Lex's shoulder for a long moment. Neither of them said anything. When they finally pulled back, the knowledge of their interest in each other was clear in Kal's eyes. Lex knew that it showed on his face.

"How long will you be on vacation?" Kal asked, licking his lips in a gesture that had to be unconscious. Lex couldn't believe that Kal would be that sexy deliberately.

"I have a week," Lex said, his heart beating faster. "I'm staying up at the mansion but my time is all mine. I can do whatever I want to do."

"What do you want to do?" Kal asked, his breath coming a little faster. His eyes flashed red for just a second and Kal blinked hard as he bit his lip.

"I want to spend my time here, helping you," Lex said. "At least while I can. I know you have work this week."

"I'll call in and take some time off," Kal said immediately, his face brightening into a grin that seemed to light up the whole room. "They don't need me that much and they can always call me. It's only about five minutes from here to the plant. And no asking for tours, please. I can't let you in there anyway."

Lex nodded, accepting that restriction easily since he got to spend time alone with Kal. Lex borrowed a flannel shirt and was grateful that he'd chosen an older pair of slacks to wear today. He helped Kal work on the living room. They put in new sheetrock, stippled it and got it prepared for painting, talking about anything under the sun. Lex shared stories of his mother and the schools he'd attended growing up. Kal spoke of his mother's music and art lessons, his parents many attempts to have other kids and his tutors growing up.

They'd both had lonely childhoods with few friends. They both had demanding fathers and loving but ineffectual mothers. They both had more money than they knew what to do with. They both had dreams that they didn't think would ever be fulfilled. And they both danced around the fact that they wanted to tear each other's clothes off and make mad passionate love.

Nothing was said or done that fist day. They ended up holding hands by the end of the second day of Lex's vacation. By the third day Lex discovered that Kal could kiss as well as he did everything else. Kissing Kal was like nothing Lex had ever experienced, only wetting his appetite for more. He also discovered that sexual arousal made Kal shoot blasts of heat from his eyes and that Kal's skin was more or less invulnerable. Putting out a sudden curtain fire with his bare hands had proven that. Lex liked to think that his reaction wasn't panic—it was justified concern for someone he'd come to care about very deeply, but Kal still teased him about it as the days went on.

"Spend the night," Kal whispered on the evening of the fourth night as Lex got ready to go back to the mansion.

"Yes," Lex breathed, pulling Kal into a kiss that left them both breathless.

Lex refused to ask about Kal's obvious differences. He refused to ask about what the experiments had done to the people in Smallville, even after several strange encounters over the last three days of his vacation. He refused to ask a lot of questions that he knew he should as because he didn't want to risk losing what he'd finally gotten with Kal.

Kal was the truest friend Lex had ever had. He was the most supportive lover he'd had the joy of sharing a bed with. He was bright, funny, talented, and amazingly good for all the bad things that happened in his life. He was a soldier who hated war, a leader who chose to follow, and a businessman who would rather read, write and work on the farm. He was everything that Lex ever wanted, and he was madly in love with Lex, which was almost beyond Lex's comprehension. Going back to Metropolis at the end of his seven days off was the most painful thing that Lex had ever done.

"I'll visit on weekends," Lex promised.

"I'll be coming into town from time to time," Kal offered with a sly look on his face. "Got a place I could crash? I don't particularly want to stay with Kara if I can help it."

"I think there might be room in my penthouse," Lex laughed, petting Kal's cheek. "Come by anytime."

"I will," Kal promised, kissing Lex goodbye. "Thank you, Lex."

"Thank you."

_Getting The News:_

Things had stayed much the same for another six months. It was the depths of winter, with sub-zero temperatures and occasional blizzards. Lex had survived his father's continuing flirtation with Kara El, stupidity at work, long periods of not getting to see Kal and a plentitude of obstructions to his romance with Kal El. Neither of them would ask for more than their occasional visits because they both knew that it was impossible.

"Thanks for driving me over to the mansion, Lex," Kal said as Lex drove them through the snowy streets to the El mansion on the edge of town. "Your Hummer's certainly a lot better on the roads than my truck."

"If you'd bought something other than an old pickup truck to drive you wouldn't have that problem," Lex said, smirking at him.

"I don't want anything other than an old pickup truck to drive," Kal laughed. "It's good enough for me and Kara wouldn't want it. Makes it perfect."

Lex harrumphed at that but didn't say anything further. They were at the mansion. Lex headed inside with Kal, handing his coat and hat to the butler that Kara had hired. Kal didn't seem bothered by the cold and had only worn a light jacket for their drive across town. Lex made a mental note to remind Kal about appearing more human when they were back at the penthouse tonight. He also added resistance to cold to his mental register of Kal's gifts. It had become quite the list over the months that they'd been lovers, though they'd never had that conversation where Kal explained how he came to be so different.

"Little cousin!" Kara exclaimed as they came into the study where she was having tea. "I'm so glad that you made it. The roads are terrible right now. I was worried that you wouldn't be able to make it to Metropolis in time for the meeting without cheating."

"Kara," Kal gently scolded her, "you know you're not supposed to say things like that."

"Oh poo," Kara said, rolling her eyes and flipping a hand at Kal. "Like Lex can't figure it out. He's almost smart enough to be a real person, which is the only reason that I haven't said anything to Uncle Jor about your little dalliance with him. It's quite sweet but you know it's almost time for you to go home."

Lex stiffened, as did Kal. Kal going home wasn't something that Lex had thought of. Somehow he'd assumed that Kal would stay here forever. Given that practically the first thing Kal had said to him was that he was the family fix-it boy, that he was sent out to deal with problems and then reassigned out of the blue, Lex realized that he shouldn't have made that assumption. Kal's shoulders slumped a little as if he'd tried to forget it too and Kara had just brought it all back.

"Oh Kal," Kara said, coming over and cupping his face in her hands. "I know that you're lonely but Uncle Jor and Auntie Lara are looking for a bride for you. This was always temporary. You'll be going home to Kandor soon and everything will be all right. I promise."

"Then I'll go with him," Lex growled, glaring at Kara. "I'm not letting Kal go."

"Don't be absurd," Kara said dismissively. "You can't. It's not allowed. Outsiders aren't allowed at home and you're not from good enough of a family to be Kal's mate."

"Kara, stop," Kal said, pulling away from her. "You're not helping. What did you want me here so early for? The meeting isn't until this afternoon."

"We got a message from home," Kara said with a little disappointed sigh. "I wanted you hear to listen to it with me. So send your boyfriend home and we'll find out what Uncle Jor says."

Lex glared at her, refusing to budge one inch. Kal gave Kara a look and pulled Lex away into one of the side rooms. He looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. Lex wasn't sure what to say either. He wouldn't let Kal go. He couldn't. Sometime since they first met, Kal had become Lex's heart. There was no possibility of the two of them parting, no matter what happened.

"I do need to listen to the message, Lex," Kal said apologetically. "It's probably important."

"And if it's the message calling you home, then what?" Lex demanded. He clung go Kal's wrist, not letting him walk away. "I know what we mean to each other, Kal. I've never been so happy before in my life. You literally make my life bearable. You can't just walk away from this."

"I don't…I don't have a choice, Lex," Kal said, anguish clear in his eyes and voice. "You don't understand what will happen to you if I try and stay, or worse if I try and take you with me. I couldn't do that to you. If it was just me, I'd risk it, but I can't bear the thought of you being hurt because of me. Please. I need to go deal with Kara."

"This discussion isn't over," Lex said grimly as he let Kal go. "We still need to talk."

Kal nodded and left the room. Lex waited until the door was shut before spending several minutes cursing Kal's parents, uncle, cousin, family, the fates and the universe in general. This wasn't fair. It wasn't right. He didn't know what was going on, though he could make several educated guesses, but he was going to find out. Lex paced for a while and then stood by the window, watching the icy wind blow snow across the mansion's lawn. He waited for Kal to return, listening to the quiet tick of the grandfather clock in the room.

The half hour had just rung when Lex heard Kara scream. He checked the time and noted in the back of his mind that about fifteen minutes had passed since Kal left. It had seemed far more like several hours to Lex. Les ran down the hallway towards the sound of Kara sobbing and threw open the door of her study. Kara was sobbing into her hands at her desk, a strange orb with a hologram hovering over it on the desk in front of it. Kal stood staring at the orb's hologram, his mouth dropped open in shock.

"What happened?" Lex asked, going over to cautiously touch Kal's elbow. "Kal? What happened?"

"They're gone," Kal whispered, still staring at the hologram. "The message, it was…Father. He said that they were losing the war. General Zod was winning. They, they, he, the planetary core power generator, it went critical. They're all gone, Lex. Our whole world. They're gone. The message showed the world blowing up, father dying, mother screaming. Uncle Zor reprogrammed the Brain Interactive Construct using the data he gathered here when the army he created off of the Smallville data wasn't successful in defeating our armaments and defenses. Uncle Zor destroyed the world and we're all that's left. We're the last Kryptonians, Lex."

Lex pulled Kal back and had him sit in one of the big comfy leather chairs. He understood most of what Kal had just told him. The only surprise was that Kal and Kara weren't modified humans. They were aliens. No wonder Kara had said that their romance was doomed. He looked at Kara who was still sobbing into her hands and then caught Kal's chin in his hand. Kal blinked and looked at him.

"Will you be all right?" Lex asked. "Are there any dietary needs that can't be met here? Or, or anything that you can't get from Earth?"

"No, we don't have anything like that," Kal said, seeming to shake off the shock and horror. "We'll be fine physically."

"Then you're both free," Lex said softly. "You can both live the lives you want to live now. I know that sounds horribly cold right now, but you're free Kal. While your people may be gone, you do still have Kara and your family's company. You have your home. You have your workers. You have your project, too. You won't ever be taken away and reassigned again. You get to live your own life."

Kal took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He nodded, looking at Kara with a little frown marking his forehead. He squared his shoulders and nodded once. Kal caught Lex's hand, pulling him into a fierce hug that almost made Lex's bones creak. Lex hugged him back, clinging to the one person who had made his life make sense. Eventually they let each other go and Kal stood, putting on that mantle of leadership that sat so comfortably on his shoulders, no matter how little he wanted it.

"You should probably head back to the penthouse, Lex," Kal said to him. He was smiling, grateful and reassured. "It'll take me quite a while to calm Kara down and we have to talk about how to handle things here. Right now it's not really safe for you to know as much as you do. You know as well as I do how Lionel gets. I don't want to risk you getting into trouble with him."

"All right," Lex said, his heart beating faster in love and admiration that he couldn't quite express. "Let me know if you're not going to be back tonight. Otherwise I'll worry so much I won't be able to sleep."

"I'll call," Kal promised.

Kal gave Lex a sweet, loving kiss that said more than words ever could about how he felt about Lex. Lex tried to put all of his love into the kiss, hoping that it would help Kal deal with the loss of everything he'd ever known. Then they let each other go and Lex stepped back. Kal had things he had to do, things that Lex couldn't know about yet. Lex had a drive through ice-covered streets to make. Lex took a deep breath and ran a finger down Kal's cheek as he let it out. Lex turned and walked out of the room. He hated doing it but he had to trust Kal to deal with this.

_Valentines:_

"Hey, got a minute?" Kal said from the door to Lex's office. He was grinning at Lex, hiding something behind his back.

"Sure," Lex said, grinning back at him. "I'm pretty much done for the day anyway. Have a Valentine's date with my boyfriend."

"Oh, that sounds like fun," Kal said, laughing. "I'm sorry to interrupt. I'll try not to keep you for too long."

Lex spluttered a laugh and shut his computer down. Kal grinned and gave him a valentines card with a silly panda on it. In the last month and a half since Krypton's destruction things had improved for both Kal and Kara. Kara had given up on being El Industries' president. She much preferred traveling and seeing the world. She had given the reins back to Kal, who promptly moved into Lex's penthouse. Lionel hadn't liked that and the gossip columnists had had a heyday with it, but neither of them had cared. Lex was working to set up his own corporation outside of his father's influence, but the going was slow so far. Kal was more than willing to help but Lex wanted to do it on his own.

They left the office together, laughing and joking. Dinner was at one of Lex's favorite restaurants, followed by a movie that Kal had been dying to see and then home to the penthouse to make love. It was late at night, nearing midnight, when Lex leaned up on his elbow to study Kal. Kal smiled at him, blushing and just a bit sweaty from their lovemaking. Lex licked his lips and tried not to stammer as he started talking.

"You know," Lex said in an almost conversational tone of voice if it weren't for his voice's shaking, "I've known you for a long time now but there's something that I've never done."

"Asked questions?" Kal said with a wicked little grin.

"No," Lex said, swallowing hard. "I've never said something very important to you. After the way I was raised, it's a difficult little phrase to get to pass my lips."

Kal's eyes got wide as Lex spoke and he sat up a little bit, staring at him with something that almost looked like fear in his eyes. That almost-fear gave Lex the strength to do it. He straddled Kal's hips, leaning down to kiss Kal tenderly. Kal's lips trembled under Lex's.

"I love you so much, Kal," Lex breathed. "I fell in love with you the first time we met and everything that's happened since then has only made me love you more. I may not say it very often but I hope that you realize just how much you mean to me. If you had been called back to Krypton I probably would have been required to create space travel just to get you back. You're my whole world and I can never let you go."

"Oh Rao, Lex," Kal whimpered, hugging him tightly. "I was afraid to say it because I wasn't sure you felt the same way."

"Never doubt it again," Lex ordered.

"I never will," Kal promised. "I never will."


End file.
